Service Above Self – Through Music www.IFRM.org

Volume 48.2 June 2021 Editor: Rod Fivelstad

IFRM and The RI Virtual Convention by Rod Fivelstad, IFRM Global Chair (RC of Grass Valley, CA)

June 2021, and I am completing my first year as your Global Chair of the International Fellowship of Rotarian Musicians. It has been challenging but rewarding as I have made many new IFRM friends through our IFRM Sings via Zoom Saturday Mornings at 10 a.m. (Pacific Time). See the log-in details at the end of my message.

The BIG news is that we have a “virtual” booth at the House of Friendship at the Virtual Rotary Convention. We have put together more than 30 minutes of singing and inspirational and informational talks about various aspects of IFRM including our plans for a new song book and our partnership with Music Mends Minds. Our booth is interactive, so that you will be able to select what you want to view. You will need to be registered for the Rotary Virtual Convention for access to the House of Friendship and our booth. IF you are attending the “virtual” convention, I hope you will visit our IFRM booth.

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place during the Convention, but you will not need to register for the convention. Our AGM will take place on zoom at 8 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (West Coast US and Canada). Here is the zoom link for the meeting.

OUR MISSION… is to promote Rotary fellowship by encouraging clubs to sing, to organize musical activities for performance at all levels of Rotary functions, and to support community music organizations and school music programs.

IFRM, Rod and Susan Fivelstad are inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: IFRM Annual General Meeting Time: Saturday, Jun 12, 2021 08:00 AM (Pacific Daylight Time--West Coast US & Canada} Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82700929372?pwd=bXcxVE5CaWcvRkMvUWxHR09IUldYUT09 Meeting ID: 827 0092 9372 Passcode: ifrmagm Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kn2IgpNYn And here is the zoom link, if you wish to IFRM Sings. Topic: IFRM Sings Time: Saturday Mornings 10 a.m. (West Coast USA, Pacific Time) The Zoom link is always the same. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84894662814?pwd=bUIwM0w5TGlQc1E1TzY4dWZBZzFKUT09 or if you like to log-in on your own. Meeting ID: 848 9466 2814 Passcode: ifrmsings Expanding IFRM’s opportunity to build Fellowship IFRM Drop-in meetings. We started these as part of the Virtual Rotary Convention in Hawaii. It is a free-form Zoom meeting, designed to give members a chance to meet other IFRM members. There will be drop-in in conjunction with the Rotary Convention on Monday, June 14, 2:00-2:45 (CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME—Chicago, IL USA) The ifrm@googlegroups.com Do you want to be connected with fellow IFRM members by email. Subscribe to our ifrm googlegroup. We exchange ideas and news, along with sharing information about IFRM sings and other IFRM gatherings. IFRM is NOT just about Singing At IFRM we want to encourage all types of musical expression and forms. Instumentalists are also a very welcome and appreciated part of our Fellowship. What can we do for you? As your Global Chair, I want to hear from you with your ideas. You can reach me by email at globalchair@ifrm.org.

IFRM is now has an episode on the “I am Rotarian Podcasts” on Iheartradio.com. Global Chair Rod Fivelstad was Gwen Jones guest for Season 4 Episode 7. Give it a listen. IFRM Website News The website update for phase 1 is completed, which includes the reopening of the membership link. Visit ifrm.org. Phase 2 is about to go live. Phase 2 reopens the database search capabilities for members to find other IFRM members who live near by, or have similar musical interests and skills. Watch for more details in Staccato.

Let’s Do This! Work for a NEW RI Song Book, Continues! By Susan DuPree The RI Songbook, last published in 1999, fulfilled the needs of Rotary clubs who wished to continue the tradition of singing at their Rotary meetings. However, with the advent of new technologies that help us stay connected, we have changed our focus to be more attuned to the many cultures that make up our Rotary Family. Therefore, in the last decade, there has been an increasing number of Rotarians who have expressed their desire for a revised RI Songbook that better reflects our global membership. IFRM Directors Curtis Reinhardt, Robert Bracegirdle and Susan DuPree, along with the Sing-a-long Director, John Ackenhusen are forming a committee to look at developing a new RI songbook. Ideas for this project include: • adding regional songbooks with help from our Vice-Chairs • making all editions accessible online -on our website. • Publishing annotated, hard copy editions representing each region and used to raise

funds, for example, for the IFRM Foundation. • Creating criteria for all submissions to the IFRM Dropbox, then having IFRM musicians

do the vetting. • IFRM members vote on final selections The Committee has been very busy building a database of possible songs to be included and are in the process of discovery and vetting, to make sure copyrights and other publication rights and permissions can be secured. The Songbook Committee meets monthly and is working hard to have this new on-line songbook by the Rotary Convention in Houston in 2022. If you have input for the IFRM Songbook Committee, contact Susan DuPree at musicdirector@ifrm.org . Let’s Do This!

IFRM Sings Zoom Link: Join Zoom Meeting Saturdays 10 a.m. Pacific Time https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84894662814?pwd=bUIwM0w5TGlQc1E1TzY4dWZBZzFKUT09 Meeting ID: 848 9466 2814 Passcode: ifrmsings

Remember the good old days of face to face meetings Long time IFRM member Ada Kahn will be introducing our IFRM membership to more of our IFRM Board of Directors in the Keeping the Beat Section. Let’s meet Barry Oxfor our IFRM Membership Chair and IFRM Board of Director. Keeping the Beat… by Ada Kahn (RC of Evanston, IL)

Here is a photo of Barry with our Rotary World Choir Director Judy Walker

Barry K. Oxford, Director of Membership of IFRM has been a member of the Carrollton Dawnbreakers Rotary club (D6900) since 2006. The club formed 25 years ago and now has 65 members. It is a dynamic club with many 30-40 years-old members. “There is another Rotary club in Carrollton. They have been around longer.” says Barry. Carrollton, GA, has a population of about 29,000. “It is a very benevolent town. In addition to our two Rotary clubs, there is an Interact club and a Rotaract club, as well as Kiwanis, Lions, Optimist and Sertoma clubs. It is a great place to live. We have the University of West Georgia located here. Between the University and the City, we have many cultural opportunities. We are close enough to the City of Atlanta to take advantage of anything it has to offer and just far enough away not to be bothered by it.”

Barry joined IFRM at the New Orleans Rotary International Convention in 2011. He attended the Interfaith service and was thrilled to hear the Rotary World Choir. “I want to be part of that!” Barry said. At the Atlanta convention in 2017, Barry served on the host committee and promoted the Rotary World Choir to IFRM members. It was the 100th anniversary of The Rotary Foundation. The goal was to have 100 singers in the Choir that year. There were almost 125 singers!

He has attended 11 International conventions. The first he attended was in Birmingham, England in 2009. “My daughter lived in London, so I combined the convention with a visit. The only one I have missed was in Sao Paulo. The choir didn’t sing there.”

“If not for RI conventions, I would not have traveled much, or been exposed to IFRM. Conventions are my motivation to travel. So much is planned for you and you see people in a welcoming environment. You meet people from all over the world, just like you. They may dress differently or talk differently, but they all have the same reason for being there. It’s great.”

He became Director of IFRM Membership in 2020 taking over from Ron Carey. When new members join, he sends them membership pins and maintains the membership database. “Membership in India is exploding”, Barry says. There are a few hundred new members in IFRM just this year, from India. They love music and use IFRM as a framework for organizing their Rotary groups interested in music.

Barry has sung in church choirs and many years ago was also in the Georgia Tech Glee club. “I occasionally sing with IFRM on Zoom on Saturday mornings. We have fun singing and getting to know other IFRM members better.”

My local club does not sing at meetings, although a few members are singers. Ten years ago, our District Governor wanted to form a choir from Rotarians from the district. This choir sang at the District Conference that year. It was great. Unfortunately, it was only a one-time thing. I remember it fondly,” he recalls.

His club does many typical Rotary activities, such as “adopt a street cleanup, Food for Families, Law Enforcement Appreciation, donation of children’s books to local hospital, Toys for Tots, and many others.” “After many years, we now have a better approach to handling money. We do one major fundraiser a year, instead of several. We now keep money until it builds up significantly so that we can do something important. We recently gave a $25,000 endowment to a local tech college. The same year we gave $25,000 to University of West Georgia. “The great thing about funding endowments is that the money continues to give in the future. It makes the donation sustainable.

Barry attended Georgia Tech and studied architecture. However, architecture was not to be his future. His parents were in the farm equipment business and he worked with them. They were also a dealer for International Harvester trucks. He always enjoyed working on tractors, trucks and hay balers and such. As the years progressed so did his work experiences. Everywhere he worked, companies began to use computers more and more. “I became fascinated with them,” says Barry. He learned about them, and as time went on, a job change opportunity came.” At that juncture in my life, I decided to change careers. I took a job with a small company that did computer sales and service. I could finally get the satisfaction of fixing things without getting my hands dirty.”

A few years later, the sales manager and I decided to take over that business as co-owners. The company celebrated 20 years in April 2021. Barry’s business is TURBO Data Networks, a commercial IT company, doing sales and service in their local area. “Many of our customers are medical practices but we work with all types of businesses. We handle all network, server, computer, printer and security issues our customers may have. We work remotely a lot, and that has helped employees and customers through the pandemic.

A note from the Editor:

Each of these new IFRM Board Members have already made notable contributions to the development of IFRM as a truly INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP of Rotarian Musicians. We are so fortunate to have them as IFRM Board Members. The sun never sets on IFRM… Did you know that IFRM has more than 800 members from 43 different countries? We are truly an international fellowship bound together by the joy of music. Whether you simply love music or are a performer, this Rotarian Fellowship is for you. The IFRM Board of Directors includes its officers (President, Secretary, Treausrer, Membership Chair, Past Global Chair and Vice Chairs connected to various geographical areas around the world, and Board Members with special responsibilities). Following is an opportunity to meet some of these IFRM members and learn a little about them and their connection with IFRM. Here is a quick update on our IFRM Board of Directors. Bonnie Sirower IFRM Treasurer is keeping busy, working on grants for Music Mends Minds and a Water project in Central America. Madhu Bishnu IFRM Social Media Director

Madhu helps coordinate all of our Social Media including Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Gregory Bakunzi Vice-Chair/Africa

Greg Bakunzi, Red Rocks Initiatives For Sustainable Development www.redrocksinitiative.org

Paddy Iyer Vice Chair for India and Sri Lanka

Paddy continues his very busy responsiblilites in India and Sri Lanka. India and Sri Lanka have four District Level IFRM Chapters. Each chapter has its own Installation Event, which are quite spectacular. You can see snippets of these events on the International Fellowship of Rotarian Musicians YouTube Channel and in Facebook. Paddy is featured in our Keeping the Beat section this edition. Vice Co-Chairs for the Carribean Frances-Ann Satney and Dr. Malcolm Charles. Learn more about Frances-Ann in Keeping the Beat.

Jean-Louis Nguyen Qui Vice-Chair/Asia Jean-Louis is another director with large geographical, language, and cultural differences. We will learn more about these challenges and successes in a future MUSIC NOTES.

Judith Crowe Vice Chair Europe

Robert Bracegirdle Vice-Chair United Kingdom has a very busy Zoom Schedule every week. Judy Walker Rotary World Choir director has already begun to think about our next Rotary World Choir in Houston in 2022. Susan DuPree is busy with the new Song Book project Howard Bridgman is a busy guy in Australia Barry Oxford is our Membership Chair. He is extremely busy as we bring the new website on-line and re-activate the new members registration. Lee Denlinger, our immediate past chair continues to provide insights into all aspects of the operation of IFRM. Curtis Reinhardt helps with coordination of various projects including work the the IFRM Foundation and the New Song Book Committee. Susan Fivelstad, our IFRM Secretary keeps our Global Chair, Rod, in-line and focused on the work of IFRM. IFRM Foundation

Peter Sotheran

CEO, IFRM Foundation Did you know that IFRM has a Foundation that is a 501c3 Charitable Organization in the United States? Donations to the IFRM Foundation are tax deductible. The Foundation has supported many worthwhile music literacy programs around the world particularly focusing on youth projects. Take a look at the IFRM website for more information and consider making a donation to further the wonderful work of the IFRM Foundation.

Rotary International REAL Convention, Houston, TX, USA June 2022. WE, at IFRM, have already started to plan for the RI Convention in Houston, and very much want to re-institute our Rotary World Choir. Keep watch for more information at our website: ifrm.org, and in Music Notes and Staccato.

MUSIC NOTES 10

Membership Application/Renewal Form

Membership is open to ALL persons Interested In Music and Fellowship. Rotarians, spouses, Rotary program participants and alumni and Non-Rotarians, too.

Please Check One

Dr. Mr. Mrs. Ms. Rotarian Spouse Rotaractor First Name: ______________________Last Name: New Member Renewal Rotary Club Name_______________________________District No. Country Mailing Address Home Phone Mobile Phone: Work Phone Email (Required) I am a Rotary Song Leader Piano Player My Voice is (circle one) S A T B Musical Talent/Occupation: I am enclosing my dues of

US $35 for 3 years membership (includes pin for new members)

US $35 for 3 years renewal US $200 for Lifetime Membership; $100 for member’s spouse Total: _________

Plus donation __________ for IFRM projects Total: Plus #______ of Small 1/2" x 1" G Clef Pin(s) at $5 each & $2 for Shipping Total:

TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED: US $ _____________ Date: ________________ Signature:______________________________

Make checks payable to IFRM, and mail to: IFRM <<<NEW ADDRESS<<<

P.O. Box 2438 Grass Valley, CA USA

Or pay on-line through PayPal at www.IFRM.org (membership)

MUSIC NOTES 11

IFRM Board of Directors (2021-22*)

*subject to approval at the AGM, June 12, 2021 Rod Fivelstad, Global Chair, Grass Valley, CA USA email: globalchair@ifrm.org Lee Denlinger, Immediate Past Global Chair, Brentwood, CA USA email: lee_denlinger@yahoo.com Susan Fivelstad, Secretary, Grass Valley, CA USA e-mail: secretary@IFRM.org Bonnie Sirower, Treasurer, Glen Rock, New Jersey USA e-mail: treasurer@IFRM.org Barry Oxford, Membership, Carrollton, GA USA email: membership@ifrm.org Malcolm Charles, Vice-Chair/Caribbean, Castries, Saint Lucia e-mail: majcharles@gmail.com Frances-Ann Satney, Vice-Chair/Caribbean, Frigate Bay, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis e-mail: francesannf@yahoo.com Howard Bridgman, Vice-Chair/Australia, Jesmond NSW Australia e-mail: habrotary@gmail.com Robert Bracegirldle, Vice-Chair UK Macclesfield UK e-mail: bobbracegirdle@gmail.com Judith Crowe, Vice-Chair/Europe, Olonzac, France email: judithacrowe@yahoo.co.uk Gregory Bakunzi, Vice-Chair/Africa Musanze, Rwanda, Africa e-mail:

greg@redrocksrwanda.com Jean-Louis Nguyen Qui, Vice-Chair/Asia, Lamanon, France e-mail: jl.nguyen1@orange.fr Paddy Iyer, Vice-Chair/India, Bangalore, India e-mail: paddy37@gmail.com Madhumita Bishnu, Social Media, Kolkata, India e-mail: madhubish27@gmail.com Ada P. Kahn, Publications, Evanston, IL USAe-mail: AdaPKahn@aol.com Curtis Reinhardt, Projects, Grover Beach, CA USAe-mail: Curtis@curtisreinhardt.com Judith Walker, Director, Rotary World Choir, Munster, IN USA e-mail: jwalker.rotary@gmail.com Susan DuPree, Music Director, Past IFRM Chair, Vancouver, WA 98685 USA e-mail: musicdirector@IFRM.org David Loufbourrow, Web Architect, Grass Valley, CA USA e-mail: webmaster@IFRM.org

MUSIC NOTES 12

IFRM